September 20, 2024 – The Longest Ride

    It rained throughout the night at Lolo Pass, and it was overcast with fog covered the mountains. I was in the midst of pillows of clouds. Everything was wet, and I was fairly certain parts of the Lolo Trail was going to be muddy; too muddy to ride, enjoyably. So, I opted for Highway 12 from Lolo Pass all the way to Kooskia, ID. The highway was mostly downhill all the way to Kooskia. The road followed the Lochsa River through a 100 mile long canyon covered with pine, spruce, and fir trees, craggy cliffs, high mountain peaks, and large boulders scattered throughout the river. The road was winding and quite narrow with moderate car and truck traffic. It was quite a dangerous road to ride on, but it was really my only option. I ate lunch at lover's leap. As I was about to leave and head down the road, a motorcycle tourist named Jack stopped at the pull-off. He greeted me with a warm, friendly smile. Jack is Australian. He has traveled all over the United States these past couple months. He flew from Australia to New York City, got on Facebook Marketplace, made a contact, bought a BMW motorcycle for $8,000, and he set off on the road. This is not his first motorcycle tour. He has also gone around the perimeter of Australia, and he has been to America before as well. He drove the Northern Tier, he went to Colorado, Utah, Glacier National Park in Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, many other states, and now he is traveling to Yosemite to camp at half-dome. He got to see his first grizzly bear close-up, got to see the Northern Lights, went to Arches National park in Utah, and has accomplished and seen much more. He has many great stories of adventures alone and with people that he has met along the way. Also, coincidentally, Jack is also an electrician that owns his own electrical business in Australia. He, like myself, is ready for the end of the voyage. He, unlike myself, has fallen in love with a young woman from Wales. So, he is ready to get back to his side of the world to be with her. 

    After talking, we both went down Highway 12, and we were surprised by 10 miles of road construction. There was about a 2 mile stretch where the road construction crew was currently working. There was only one-lane of traffic for both eastbound and westbound travelers, so a pilot car was leading the travelers in alternating fashion. While we were stopped waiting on the other direction of traffic to pass through, I was called to the front of the line. The driver of the pilot car helped me put my bike in the back of his truck and he gave me a ride through the active construction zone....about a 2 mile stretch. Then, I got on my bike and headed down the rest of the way through the majestic canyon to Kooskia. This has been my longest riding day of the trip. I traveled 102 miles (2 miles of which I hitched a ride with the pilot car), so I rode another century! I'm still in the century club in my mid-30s; woohoo! 

    At Kooskia, I slept in the town park. Then, I traveled to Kamiah in the morning. I was on Highway 12 to Kamiah, and the traffic was simply too bad with little to no shoulder. So, I opted for my Google cycling maps. They put me on Idaho SR 64. As I turned onto 64 after making my way through town, there was a large digital sign that said 64 was closed at mile marker 24-25. At the sign was a ranger station for the Nez Perce National Forest. I went inside and asked questions of importance to a delightful receptionist, named Shannon. I first asked if there was a fire up ahead in the woodlands. She said no. Instead, there is a washout atop the grade/plateau. She told me that she thought I could pass through the construction zone with my bicycle, but she wasn't certain. So, after talking about my options, I went for climbing the Kamiah grade up the plateau. I made it to the active road construction site almost to the top of the mountain, and they were working on the roads. I thought for sure that they wouldn't let me pass through, and I would have to descend the mountain and find an alternative route of travel. I thought about it for a while, and I decided to give it a shot. I walked up to one of the heavy equipment operators and asked if I could pass through. To my pleasant surprise, he said “sure, you can pass.” He contacted the foreman of the road construction. His name is Tristan. He is only 25 years old, just out of college. Tristan put my bike in the back of his truck and gave me a ride through the construction site. It turns out that there are about 6 to 7 washouts of the road that they are working on regrading, fixing, and making them ready for car and truck traffic.

    Tristan gave me about me about a 3-4 mile ride to the top of the plateau. We briefly exchanged stories, and I was so thankful for his eagerness to help me and his generosity and kindness. We both went about our separate ways. I kept riding into the night through Craigmont, Reubens, Culdesac, down the plateau on Garden Gulch Road to Lapwai. Then, I made one final climb up another gulch on Lapwai Road out of the Nez Perce Reservation. It was nighttime by the time I reached the top of the plateau. I descended the Lapwai Road down the plateau to the city of Lewiston, ID in the disguise of night. Once I made it into town, I went to El Sombrero Mexican American Restaurant. I ate a delicious meal and then rode to Pioneer park in downtown Lewiston. I setup my ground mat on the ground underneath an oak tree, and fell asleep. Then, around midnight, the sprinklers came on and got me nice and wet and startled. I moved all my gear. Just as I was getting comfortable a police officer pulled up, and said I had to go. No sleeping or camping was allowed in the park. So, I got up, packed up my gear and walked down the road. By this time I had a flat tire. I picked up a thorn somewhere along the road. I finally found a place to sleep around 1:30am, and I went to sleep dog-tired. In the morning when I awoke, I saw that both of my tires were flat. I picked up thorns in both the rear and front tires. So, I used my two spares and got my tires successfully reinflated for now. Now, I'm headed to Walmart to buy more spare tubes. There must be a lot of thorns in this part of the country. I'm on the last leg of the trip. There is more to come in the next episode.